October Tea Reading—nicely brewed!

THERE was such a great vibe at Pelican Village on Saturday.

Writers Ink held its October Tea Reading there at the Barbados Arts Council gallery and you really do get a warm, fuzzy glow surrounded by all that art on the walls and the shared passion for writing. The gallery is proving an ideal space and the fast growing turnout means Writers Ink is going to need more chairs.

Featured readers Christine Barrow and Robert Edison Sandiford really delivered. What was noteworthy is that the former is a writing student of the latter and they both dealt with some dark and difficult themes: Christine entering the mind of a child for one of her pieces about death and loss, and Sandiford examining the moment of death or dying from a number of angles and also sharing some of his erotic prose. Both presented their work with a Samurai’s touch—a huge reward for any audience unafraid of being challenged.

For open mic, many people walked with their 5 lines (or more) on Bridgetown. Among them, Loretta Hackett, Sarah Venable, Ann Hewitt, Susan Mahon and Theo Williams who shared some fine words not to mention unexpected and unique perspectives on our capital city.

A team from Eye on the Arts was there to capture it all, so keep an eye out! And— to steal a line from the Bajan Reporter (we missed you Ian!)—all of Barbados is invited to the next Tea Reading when the open mic theme(s) will be “The Sea, Food, Love.” Plenty of room in which to brew some Independence spirit!

• The Tea Readings are staged by Writers Ink the last Saturday of every month.—LMD